After losing 6–3 to Amherst in the quarterfinal of the NESCAC Championship on Saturday, the Jumbos wrapped up NESCAC tournament play with a 9–0 win over Trinity in the consolation round and 5–4 win over Bates in the fifth-place match.
In Sunday's fifth-place match against the Bobcats, sophomore Julie Young defeated senior Kristyna Alexova (8–11, 11–4, 11–9, 11–2) in the second position, while senior Zarena Jafry took down sophomore Katie Manternach (15–13, 12–10, 6–11, 11–8) in the fourth position. These four-game tilts proved vital for the Jumbos, who got wins at the seventh, eighth and ninth spots as well. The bottom third of the Jumbos lineup dominated against the Bobcats, with sophomore Chloe Kantor grinding out a five-game victory in the eighth position.
The Bobcats were one of the Jumbos' most competitive opponents of the season, hanging in for a 6–3 loss in the regular season and pushing the Jumbos to their only 5–4 match of the season, both of which featured tightly contested battles across the board.
The day before, during the consolation match, the Jumbos took care of business against the No. 8 Wesleyan Cardinals in a 9–0 thrashing.
Tufts ended up playing in that consolation match after falling in their quarterfinal matchup to No. 4 Amherst 6–3, a repeated score of their regular season match-up. Junior and co-captain Claire Davidson and sophomore Julie Yeung got wins in the first and second positions with three-game victories, while sophomore Rachel Windreich won a tightly contested five-game battle in the sixth position, defeating senior Priya Sinha (9–11, 11–4, 6–11, 11–5, 11–1).
The Greenwich, Conn. native had lost her regular season match against Amherst at the five spot, but was able to make an impact playing sixth in the postseason.
Amherst, tied with Tufts as the No. 16 ranked team in the country, still stands in the way of Tufts' goal of making the B division for the College Squash Association (CSA) Nationals. Second-year coach Joseph Raho sees Amherst as the team’s top challenge for next season, but with the CSA meet just weeks away, the team is focusing more on defending their No. 1 seeding in the C division. Tufts will look to flip the script on their perennial rival Bates, who beat Tufts three times in the 2017–2018 season.
“Every spot that you go up is hard to get, totally earned, and our goal is to win the C flight at nationals,” Raho said. “We're probably going to play Bates in the finals if we get there, and it's tough to beat a team three times, but we’re going to try.”
Davidson also agreed that Bates poses a challenge every year.
“Bates has been a huge rival with us, and we always have a close match with them," Davidson said. "Chances are we’re going to see them in a few weeks at nationals."
Davidson, along with senior co-captain Christa Irani, have seen Tufts make huge strides as a program, moving up from a No. 23 national ranking in the 2015–2016 season to the team's current ranking at No. 16.
“Every year we’ve been getting better so year to year our rivalries have been changing, but Bates has been a constant,” Davidson said. “But two years ago we didn’t have a close match with Amherst, so it’s awesome to see that progress.”
Raho has been the major architect of the program’s improvement over the last two years, and he feels that the team is knocking on the door of Amherst and the B division. Their 6–3 loss on Saturday featured four four-game matches, with the Jumbos falling in all of them. Raho and the team hope to crack the top four in the NESCAC, which has been dominated by Amherst, Williams, Middlebury and Trinity with its 13 NESCAC championships.
“We’re not there yet, but we’re moving towards that level," Raho said. "Against Amherst, it wasn’t enough that day — they're just a little deeper than us.”
In the coming years, Raho feels confident about their ability to make that push into the top four, which will most likely spring the team into the B flight at the CSA meet as well.
“We have an amazing group, super tight-knit, very talented and we’re bring[ing] in three good recruits next season, and hope to take another step forward," he said.
A balanced roster that combines strong senior leadership with a good core of underclassmen is something that promises good results in the years to come. The Jumbos are going to need their whole lineup, top to bottom, to be at their best at the CSA Nationals in hopes of setting up a third rematch with Bates. First-year Diya Sanghi was a strong contributor at the seventh spot, and relished in the spirit of the team.
“It was nice being part of a team," Sanghi said. "NESCAC was definitely more intense than the regular season, and being there with the team made it super fun.”
The Jumbos opens play at the CSA Nationals on Feb. 22 against the eighth seed in the C division as they look to earn the first Walker Cup in program history.
